Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
In the remote township of Nhill in western Victoria, Karen-Burmese refugees now make up 10 per cent per cent of the town’s population and 18 per cent of the workforce – boosting the town’s economy and receiving a warm welcome from the local residents. The Karen people in Myanmar (Burma) make up seven per cent …
Continue reading “A tiny country town’s unlikely refugee success story”
On 25 January 2011 thousands of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square to demand dignity, social change, freedom, and democracy. Four years on, after what seemed like a successful uprising, many believe that Egypt is worse than ever. What happens when peaceful protest becomes illegal? In 2013, Egypt’s interim government established an anti-protest law preventing people …
Continue reading “Egypt: Are human rights abuses worse than ever?”
The government crackdown is intensifying one month after the attempted uprising. Fear comes in many forms. A month ago, on the night of the bloody coup attempt here in Turkey, I together with millions in Istanbul and Ankara experienced gut-tightening fear as explosions shook our living rooms and gunfire crackled outside our windows. Downstairs my …
Continue reading “The coup may have failed but fear still rules Turkey”
In the lead up to the five-year anniversary of the start of the violent conflict in Syria, we spoke to Syrian human rights activist Bassam al-Ahmad about his experiences. Arrested I had been in my new job for fewer than six weeks when they came in and arrested everyone in the office and took us …
Continue reading “Arrested, detained and tortured: the reality of Syrian oppression”
Five years ago, activist Osama Nassar, a Syrian human rights activist witnessed first-hand the public protests and violent government response which sparked Syria’s bloody armed conflict. Since then, he and his family have been arrested, intimidated and forced underground. He tells Amnesty their story. At the beginning of 2011, I met with a group of …
Continue reading “Underground and under fire: An activist’s life in Syria since 2011”
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the start of Syria’s violent civil war, Amnesty Intern Cheye Gameren reflects on the past five years. A lot can happen in five years Take a moment to think about it – five years is a long time. A lot can be achieved and a lot can be …
Continue reading “Lives shaped by violence: growing up in Syria”
After almost five years of civil war, the plight of the Syrian people has finally captured the world’s attention. Amnesty’s Crisis Intern, Zulma Schubert, explains why we need to take a strong stance for Syrians and show that Australia really does care. Alan Kurdi The image of Syrian boy Alan Kurdi, who drowned when his …
Continue reading “Not caring about Syria is no longer an option”
Amnesty volunteer Laura James tells us how motherhood motivated her to campaign for refugee rights. Passion for human rights My involvement with Amnesty International began in high school, at All Hallows’, an inner city Catholic girls school. Every year the entire school would come together to hold a fundraiser for Amnesty and at the very …
A letter from Samar Badawi to her imprisoned husband, the Saudi Arabian human rights lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair. Samar is also the sister of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi. ‘History will exalt those who fought for freedom’ Words are not enough for me to express how proud I am of my husband. How deeply proud I …
Khaled lives in western Sydney with his wife Rhamia and their six children. He’s just one of around 500 Syrian refugees who’ve started a new life in Australia. In his own words, this is his story. Life was very good I was a businessman in Syria; I had five companies, including a car and freight …
